Time Lord Magic
by Tom Tardis
Summary: After discovering he's no longer the last Time Lord after reuniting with his best friend the Wizard. The Doctor will have to deal with his feelings changing, helping his friend live after the war, and dealing with Torchwood at the same time. The Doctor/ OC M/M. 1st in the Magical Time Series.
1. Return of the Cybermen and the Wizard

**So this is going to be a Doctor/OC Time Lord fanfic. It will involve a M/M relationship although there won't be any explicit details. I decided to write after reading works by loulouflowerpower and LizzeXX, but instead of using a Time Lady I used a Time Lord. Please review and let me know what you think.**

 **Like LizzeXX I'm gonna do a short description of my Time Lord. The Wizard who is in his 6** **th** **body is a tall man, about 6'2, with dark blonde shoulder length hair and light blue eyes. He's dressed in black army combats. I've based his look on Chris Hemsworth.**

Return of the Cybermen and the Wizard

The Doctor and Rose are slumped in the chairs of the TARDIS console while Mickey stands by the console.

"And that weird munchkin lady with the big eyes? Do you remember? - the way she looked at you!And then she opens her mouth and fire comes out!" the Doctor grinned telling Mickey the story of one of their past adventures. Rose laughed "I thought I was gonna get frazzled!"

"Yeah! One minute she's standing there, and the next minute - rawwwh!"

He and Rose mimic fire coming out of their mouths, killing themselves laughing. Mickey nods and smiles, not really following. "So where was that, then? What happened?"

"Oh, it was on this um... uh, this uh... planet thing, asteroid. It's a long story, you had to be there." His grin faded slightly looking over at Mickey "Um... what're you doing that for?" noticing Mickey has his finger on a button on the console.

"'Cos you told me to..."

The Doctor blinks "When was that?"

"About half an hour ago..."

"Um" he clears his throat "You can let go now."

As Mickey lets go Rose starts to snigger. "Well, how long's it been since I could've stopped?"

"Ten minutes?" the Doctor shrugged, "Twenty? ...twenty-nine..."

"You just forgot me!"

"No, no, no!" he said quickly, "I was just…I was just...I was calibrating. I was just...no, I know exactly what I'm doing."

Suddenly the TARDIS console exploded, sending Mickey flying backwards and Rose falling out of the seat. The TARDIS jolted, shaking violently as sparks and flames flew everywhere. The Doctor half leapt out of the chair and over to the console, frantically trying to operate it.

"What's happened?" Rose shouted.

"The Time Vortex is gone!" the Doctor yelled back, looking at them, "That's impossible! It's just gone!"

"Brace yourself! We're gonna crash!"

The TARDIS did, throwing them all backwards as gas masks fell from the ceiling, the lights of the TARDIS going out, pitching them into darkness.

"Everyone alright? Rose? Mickey?"

Mickey called, "I'm okay, sorry."

The Doctor stood looking at the console "The TARDIS is dead…" he whispered. He slowly walked around the console.

"You can fix it right?" Rose asked.

"There's nothing to fix. She's perished…" he pulled a lever back and forth fruitlessly, "The last TARDIS in the Universe...extinct."

"We can get help, yeah?" Rose asked.

"Where from?"

"Well, we've landed, we've gotta be somewhere."

"We fell out of the Vortex, through the Void, into nothingness. We're in some sort of no-place...the silent realm...the lost dimension..."

"Otherwise known as London!" Mickey called.

They looked over to see Mickey standing by the door, sunlight streaming through. Mickey laughed and stepped out.

He looked around the area which looked a lot like London, when the Doctor and Rose stepped out behind them, "London, England, Earth," Mickey said, spotting a newspaper, "Hold on..." he jumped off the low wall they were on and picked it up, "First of February this year, not exactly far-flung, is it?"

Rose jumped down after him, coming to look at the newspaper as well while Doctor glanced up before the Doctor jumped down too.

"So, this is London," the Doctor remarked, looking up again.

"Yep."

"Your city."

"That's the one."

"Just as we left it."

"Bang on."

"And that includes the zeppelins?"

Rose and Mickey looked over at him before following his gaze where the sky was full of zeppelins.

"What the hell..." Mickey breathed.

"That's _beautiful_ ," Rose smiled.

"Okay…so, it's London with a big international zeppelin festival."

The Doctor just shook his head "This is not your world."

"But if the _date's_ the same..." Mickey argued, confused, before a light went off in his head, "...it's parallel, right? Am I right? Like a parallel Earth where they've got Zeppelins, am I right? I'm right, aren't I?"

"Must be," the Doctor agreed.

"So, a parallel world," Rose nodded, smiling at the action, better her be chummy with Mickey than the Doctor in her opinion, "Where…"

"Oh, come on," Mickey turned to her, "You see it on films. Like an alternative to our world were everything's the same but a little bit different, like...I dunno…traffic lights are blue, Tony Blair never got elected..."

"And he's still alive..." Rose cut in, her gaze caught by a poster right in front of them. There, on the wall, was her father Pete Tyler, a successful businessman, holding some sort of drink, Vitex, according to the advertisement, "A parallel world and my dad's still alive..."

She stepped slowly towards the poster, the Doctor and Mickey following.

"Don't look at it, Rose," the Doctor said sternly, "Don't even think about it. This is not your world."

"But he's my dad...and..." she reached out and touched the poster.

The picture sprang to life for a moment, "Trust me on this," it said, giving a wink and a thumbs up.

Rose stepped back, "Oh, that's weird. But he's real!"

"Trust me on this," the poster repeated.

"He's a success! He was always planning these daft little schemes, health-food drinks and stuff. Everyone said they were useless. But he did it!"

The Doctor reached out suddenly and grasped Rose by the shoulders, leaning over to look in her eyes, "Rose, if you've ever trusted me, then listen to me now," he said urgently. Rose glanced at the poster, "Stop looking at it!" she reluctantly turned back to the Doctor, "Your father's dead. He died when you were six months old. That is not your Pete. That is _a_ Pete. For all we know, he's got his own Jackie, his own Rose. His own daughter who is someone else, but not you," Rose's eyes started to wander back to the poster but she tried to stop herself this time, "You can't see him. Not ever."

Rose gave a tiny nod as Mickey touched her shoulder comfortingly. The poster of Pete started to repeat 'Trust me on this' over and over.

The Doctor looked up at the sound of the TARDIS door opening from where he was fiddling with the controls to see Mickey walk in and close the door behind him.

"I told you to keep an eye on her," the Doctor moaned, shaking his head.

"She's alright," Mickey waved him off.

"She goes wandering off, parallel world, it's like a gingerbread house. All those temptations calling out."

"Oh, so it's just Rose then? Nothing out there to tempt me?"

"Well, I don't know," the Doctor conceded, "I can't worry about everything…if I could just get this thing to…" he suddenly kicked the TARDIS hard in frustration and grabbed his head.

"Did that help?" Mickey asked.

"Yes,"

Mickey laughed at them, "Did that hurt?"

"Yes,"

The Doctor just collapsed down on the chair, ignoring his foot and rubbing his head, "Ow," he grumbled before looking at the console in thought, "We're not meant to be here. The TARDIS draws its power off the Universe, but it's the wrong Universe. It's like diesel in a petrol engine."

Mickey sat down next to him, "But...I've seen it in comics. People are hopping from one alternative world to another, it's easy."

The Doctor shot him a withering look, "Not in the real world," he paused, "Used to be easy. When the Time Lords kept their eye on everything, you could hop between realities, home in time for tea. Then they died, took it all with them. The walls of reality closed, the worlds were sealed. Everything became that bit less kind."

"Then how did we get here?"

The Doctor looked up wearily, "I dunno. Accident? Should've been impossible, now we're trapped. It's not just that though I'm getting a twinge in my head, I feel like I should recognise it but I can't. "

They fell into a short, hopeless, silence when…

"What's that?" the Doctor called looking down to see a tiny green light glowing beneath the console.

"What?"

"That there…" the Doctor pointed, "Is that a reflection?"

The three of them crouched down to stare at it.

"It's a light!" the Doctor cried excitedly, "Is it? Is that a light? I think that's a light! That's all we need!" he reached out and removed the grilling, "We've got power! Mickey, we've got power! Ha!"

He quickly jumped down under, working his way underneath the console, pulling out some rather important looking internal materials from the TARDIS in the process.

"It's alive!" he cried as he reached the light, sounding extremely happy.

"What is it?" Mickey asked.

"It's nothing. It's tiny. One of those insignificant little power cells that no one ever bothers about, and it's clinging onto life. But with one little ounce of reality tucked away inside!"

"Enough to get us home?"

"Not yet," he replied, pulling himself out to sit beside the grilling hole, holding the cell carefully in his hands, "I need to charge it up."

"We could go outside and latch it up to the national grid!"

"Wrong sort of energy. It's gotta come from our Universe."

"But we don't have anything…"

"There's me..." the Doctor replied, lifting the cell to his mouth. He then took a breath and blew gently on the cell as it glowed brightly. The Doctor started beaming at it.

"I just gave away ten years of my life," he told Mickey, "Worth every second!"

He giggled dorkishly as the light started to fade.

"It's going out. Is that okay?" Mickey frowned.

The Doctor looked up from the cell "It's on a recharging cycle," it started to grow brighter again, then dimming, basically pulsing.

"It'll loop round, power back up and be ready to take us home in about 24 hours."

Mickey smirked at the action, "So, that gives us 24 hours on a parallel world?"

"Shore leave!" the Doctor grinned, "As long as we keep our heads down. Easy. No problem!" he stood up and tossed the cell in the air before placing it in his pocket.

They found Rose sitting on a bench along the Thames, looking out at the river.

"There you are!" the Doctor called, "You alright? No applause, I fixed it!" he held up the power cell, "24 hours, then we're flying back to reality," he sat down on the bench beside her while Mickey stood beside it, holding the cell out to her. Rose didn't even glance at it, lost in her thoughts. His grin faded, seeing the mobile in her hands, "What is it?"

"My phone connected," she replied, "There's this...Cybus Network, it finds your phone. It gave me Internet access."

"Rose, whatever it says, this is the wrong world."

"I don't exist."

"What do you mean?"

"There's no Rose Tyler. I was never born. There's Pete, my dad, and Jackie...he still married mum...but they never had kids."

The Doctor reached out, trying to snatch the mobile, "Give me that phone."

But Rose pulled it away before he could get it, "They're rich. They've got a house and cars, and everything they want," then she paused, "But they haven't got me," she got up and walked away from the bench, turning to face the Doctor, "I've gotta see him."

"You can't."

"I just wanna see him."

"I can't let you!"

"You just said 24 hours!"

"You can't become their daughter, that's not the way it works!" the Doctor said, before looking over at Mickey, "Mickey, tell her."

"24 hours, yeah?" Mickey asked, looking just as thoughtful as Rose had been.

The Doctor looked between them, bewildered, "Where're you going?"

"Well, I can do what I want!" he began moving back.

Rose started walking backwards from the bench, "I've got the address and everything."

The Doctor looked between them frantically, "Stay where you are, both of you! Rose, come back here! Mickey, come back here right now!"

"I just wanna see him."

"Yeah, I've got things to see and all," Mickey agreed.

"Like WHAT?" the Doctor turned on him.

"Well, you don't know anything about me, do ya?" Mickey countered, getting angry, "It's always about Rose. I'm just a spare part."

"I'm sorry," Rose called, walking away, "I've gotta go."

The Doctor looked between Rose and Mickey, both of them walking away from him in opposite directions, unsure which way to go.

"Go on then," Mickey gestured to Rose, "No choice, is there? You can only chase after one of us, and it's never gonna be me, is it?"

"Back here in 24 hours," he called and ran after Rose, disappearing around the corner.

"Yeah if I haven't found something better?" Mickey said to himself before turning away.

Rose and the Doctor walked along the streets, Rose filling the Doctor in on where exactly Mickey had gone off to.

"Mickey's mum just couldn't cope," she explained, "His dad hung around for a while, but then he just sort of wandered off. He was brought up by his Gran," she smiled, "She was such a great woman. God, she used to slap him! Then she died. She tripped and fell down the stairs. It's about five years ago, now. I was still in school."

"I never knew," the Doctor commented.

"Well, you never asked."

"You never said!"

"That's Mickey. I s'pose I… _we_ just...take him for granted. Do you think she's still alive, his Gran?"

"Could be. Like I said, parallel world, gingerbread house. We need to get out of here as fast as we can."

There was a short alarm sound and everyone around them suddenly froze. The Doctor and Rose looked around, very confused.

"What're they all doing?" Rose frowned.

"They've stopped…" the Doctor commented, looking around, "Look at that! It's the earpieces...like Bluetooth attachments, but everyone's connected together."

Rose's phone beeped and she pulled it out of her pocket, "It's on my phone. It's automatic, look. It's downloading. Is this what they're all getting?" the Doctor looked over her shoulder and put his specs on, watching as Rose scrolled through the daily updates, "News...international news...sports...weather..."

"They get it direct. Downloaded right into their heads."

"TV schedules...lottery numbers..."

"Everyone shares the same information. Daily download published by Cybus Industries."

The download scrolled down to 'Joke' and everyone around them chuckled before going about their business as though nothing had happened.

"You lot, you're obsessed," the Doctor said, a small amount of disgust in his voice, "You'd do anything for the latest upgrade."

"Oi...not my lot," Rose argued, "Different world, remember..."

"It's not SO far off your world. This place is only parallel," he pressed a few buttons on the phone, holding it out for her, "Oh, look at that. Cybus Industries owns just about every company in Britain, including Vitex. Mr. Pete Tyler's VERY well connected."

Rose said nothing, but hung off his arm, smiling innocently up at him, eyeing him hopefully.

He sighed, "Oh, okay. I give up," he tossed her phone back to her, "Let's go and see him."

A van pulled up to an abandoned building, the man, Jake, hopping out first and looking up, "There's a light on. There's someone inside the base," Mickey hopped out having been taken their after having spoken with his gran, they seemed to know his parallel self so he'd had to go along with them "Mrs. Moore, we've got visitors."

The three of them snuck down the side of the house like spies, Jake and Mrs. Moore with guns ready, till they came to crouch before the front door.

"One...two...three...go!" Jake counted before shoving the door open. They burst into the room, Mrs. Moore and Jake pointing their guns, only to see another Ricky standing there.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ricky demanded.

Mrs. Moore and Jake looked from him to Mickey, bewildered as Jake turned back to Ricky, "What're you doing there?"

Ricky advanced slowly, "What am I doing HERE?" he stared at Mickey, his brow furrowing, "What am I doing THERE?" he pointed a finger at Mickey. Mrs. Moore and Jake immediately spun around and turned their guns on him.

Then from the other room, another man appeared he was over 6 foot with dark blonde hair and light blue eyes, he had the build of a soldier. However, unlike the other's he wasn't carrying a gun, but rather a long metal rod with seem to be glowing at the end. "Now this interesting."

~8~

The Doctor and Rose crouched down outside the mansion that apparently belonged to the Tyler's, watching as expensive car after expensive car pulled up. He grabbed his again briefly while Rose was focusing on the car's but shook it off quickly.

"They've got visitors," the Doctor whispered.

"February the first, mum's birthday," Rose reasoned, "Even in a parallel Universe, she still loves a party."

"Well, given Pete Tyler's guest list, I wouldn't mind a look and there is one guaranteed way of getting inside," he waved the psychic paper around.

"Psychic paper!"

"Who do you wanna be?"

Rose and the Doctor stepped through the door that led from the kitchen into the drawing room. Both were dressed as waiters. A woman took some nibbles from Rose's tray before moving on, past the Doctor holding a tray of champagne.

"We could've been anyone," Rose muttered under her breath.

"Got us in, didn't it?" he grinned.

"You're in charge of the psychic paper! We could've been guests. Celebrities. Sir Doctor, Dame Rose. We end up serving. I had enough of this back home."

They both smiled politely as various people took the champagne and cocktail sticks from their trays.

"If you wanna know what's going on, work in the kitchens," the Doctor reasoned, before laughing slightly.

He then nodded to one of the guests, "According to Lucy, that man over there…"

"Who's Lucy?"

"She's carrying the salmon pinwheels," the Doctor nodded over to the woman.

"Oh, that's Lucy, is it?" Rose eyed her.

"Yeah! Lucy says, that is the President of Great Britain. Gotta say something about a party eh?"

"What, there's a President, not a Prime Minister?"

"Seems so."

"Or maybe Lucy's just a bit thick," Rose remarked, as they moved to another room.

"Excuse me!" Pete Tyler called, "Thank you very much. Thank you, if I could just have your attention, please?"

"Pete!" someone in the crowd shouted, "Go on, Pete!"

"Thank you very much!" he laughed.

"It's about time you did some work! I thought you liked them young!"

Rose followed the voice of her father down a hallway to the bottom of a set of large stairs, the Doctor following. Pete was standing in the middle of them, "Um, I'd just like to say, er, thank you to you all, for coming on this er, this very special occasion. My wife's...39th..." the crowd chucked, "Trust me on this…" he added, giving his trademark thumbs up, earning a bigger laugh, "So, without any further ado, here she is. The birthday girl...my lovely wife...Jackie Tyler."

Rose strained for a look while the Doctor glanced at her, worried. An elegantly done up Jackie descended the staircase, smiling at the crowd as it applauded and cheered for her, taking pictures. Rose stared as Jackie came to stand next to Pete.

"Now, I'm not giving a speech, that's what my parties are famous for, no work, no politics, just a few good mates and plenty of black-market whisky," the crowd laughed, "Pardon me, Mr. President!" she added jokingly at the man the Doctor had pointed out earlier, "So, yeah! Get on with it, enjoy, enjoy."

There were more cheers as Pete took Jackie's hand and they descended the rest of the stairs to mingle with their guests.

"You can't stay," the Doctor said quietly to Rose, "Even if there was some way of telling them."

"Course I can't," Rose nodded, "I've still got my mum at home, my real mum. I couldn't just leave her, could I? It's just...they've got each other. Mum's got no one."

"She's got you! Those two haven't!" he sighed, "All these different worlds, not one of them gets it right."

"Rose!" Jackie called suddenly, followed by a series of barks and yelps, "There's my little girl!" they watched as a small dog pattered over to Jackie who picked her up, "Come to mummy, come to mummy! Yes, good girl! Good girl, aren't you?"

Rose's mouth dropped open as she stared at the dog that had replaced her in this life. The Doctor took one look at her face before bursting out with laughter. She gave him a withering look.

"Not you," he said quickly, "Not laughing at you."

"Oh aren't you?" and started sniggering again

Mickey had both been tied to chairs by Jake, Mrs. Moore, Ricky and the other man who had yet to introduce himself.

"He's clean," Jake turned to Ricky, "No bugs."

"But this is off the scale," Ricky commented, eyeing Mickey, "He's flesh and blood, how did that happen? Got any explanation Wiz"

The man frowned at Rickey "I told you not to call me that." He then waved his rod up and down Mickey which made a whirring noise which reminded him of the Doctor's sonic screwdriver

The man crouched slightly looking at Mickey in the eyes, "Your name is Mickey, not Ricky?"

"Yeah, Why?"

"Cause using my device here I can detect artron energy coming from you, which means that you've been time travelling. So I'm gonna guess that you've come from a parallel world." He stood back up to his regular height and rocked on his heels. "How am I doin?"

Mickey gasped "How'd you know about time traveling and what the hell is that the device?"

The man grinned "Well it's kinda in the title for me being a Time Lord. I'm the Wizard nice to meet ya. Oh and this device I call a wand but if you wanna be technical you could call it a sonic probe."

"The Wizard, so kinda like the Doctor"

The Wizard jumped forward again grabbing his shoulders and almost shouted "You know the Doctor, where is he?"

Ricky coughed and the two men looked over "Kinda missing the point here Wiz, we need to make sure his isn't a threat"

"If he's traveling with the Doctor, I can almost guarantee he isn't, the Doctor isn't big on violence, I should know he's my best mate"

"Seriously, he's never mentioned you" Mickey looked at the odd man "God it's like Sarah Jane all over again"

"Ah Sarah, how is she?"

"Um Wiz" Jake commented, "Doing it again"

The Wizard stepped back still looking at Mickey. "We do need to find the Doctor though, he'll be able to help"

"So, who are you lot?" Mickey asked.

Rickey straightened and resumed circling the chair again, "We…we are the Preachers. As in Gospel Truth. You see?"

"No ear plugs," he continued, "While the rest of the world downloads from Cybus Industries, we…WE have got freedom. You're talking to London's Most Wanted. But target Number One is Lumic, and we ARE going to bring him down."

"From your kitchen?" Mickey asked.

Jake smirked as Ricky glared, ""Have you got a problem with that?"

"No, it's a good kitchen."

Before anyone in the room could respond to that, the laptop before Mrs. Moore beeped, her and the Wizard went over to it.

"It's an upload from Gemini," she called.

"Who is Gemini?" Mickey asked.

"The vans are back," she read, ignoring Mickey, "They're moving out of Battersea. Looks like Gemini was right. Lumic's finally making a move."

"And we are right behind him," Ricky nodded, the Wizard waved the wand and Mickey's rope's fell off. "You're coming with us until I get you back to the Doctor"

"God you make me sound like a stray dog"

The Preachers hid out in the shadows of a building, waiting for the huge lorry from Cybus Industries to drive past before following. Ricky drove, leaving Jake and Mrs. Moore in the back, preparing and loading their guns.

The Wizard looked at Mickey while the others were busy, looking like he was dying to ask more questions but noticing it wasn't the time "Can't go without them things?" Mickey asked, eyeing them as well.

He smiled "Know what you mean, don't really like guns myself but they won't leave without them"

"We don't know what we're up against," Jake replied, "Gotta be prepared."

Mrs. Moore nodded, "Lumic's computers should be simple enough to crack with Wiz here, so at least we know where we're going."

~8~

The Preachers had pulled up to a rather fancy mansion a few minutes ago, Jake and Ricky heading out to try and get a closer look while Mickey, Mrs. Moore, and the Wizard sat in the truck. Mrs. Moore was now in the driver's seat while the Wizard sat shotgun, the laptop n his lap, Mickey with his head sticking out between the seats to talk to both of them.

"I've identified the address," the Wizard informed them, "It belongs to Peter Tyler. The Vitex millionaire."

"Pete Tyler?" Mickey looked at her, startled.

"He's listed as one of Lumic's henchmen. A traitor to the state."

"But...but...we've gotta get in there!"

"Why?" the Wizard asked.

Mickey looked at him and Mrs. Moore "If you want the Doctor, that's where he's gonna be"

"Handy coincidence, just give me a sec, need to get some stuff ready"

With that he climbed over seats and went through the stuff in the van searching for something.

The Doctor frowned as he watched a promotion on some sort of invention for a Mr. Lumic.

"The most precious thing on this Earth is the human brain..." Lumic narrated as the presentation continued, displaying the brain, "This is the ultimate upgrade. Our greatest step into cyberspace."

The Doctor's expression grew more horrified as he watched the brain placed into a metallic body, "Cybers…" he breathed, dashing out of the room.

"So what you looking for" Mickey asked as the Wizard still searched.

" Something I made that can help against the Cybermen" she replied.

"Cybermen?" Mrs. Moore repeated with a frown.

"What are Cybermen?" Mickey asked.

The Wizard stopped searching and looked up, " There human beings without their humanity. It's a human brain encased in a body of metal…completely emotionless...completely merciless. They will kill anyone who doesn't 'upgrade.'" With this he held up what looked like a pack of playing cards.

"We need to warn Ricky and Jake," Mrs. Moore gasped, horrified at what Lumic was truly doing.

"Got it," Mickey jumping out of the van. The Wizard followed "You'll need my help"

"Really, with a pack of playing cards"

"Hey a Wizard needs his tricks, and really you think there just playing cards" he said before running off into the night with Mickey following.

The Doctor pushed his way through the crowd and over to Rose's side, both of them staring out the window as metallic figures approached the house.

"It's happening again," the Doctor breathed.

"What do you mean?" Rose looked at him.

"I've seen them before."

"What are they?"

"Cybermen."

Suddenly several of the Cybermen smashed through the windows, gaining entry into the house. The guests screamed and began to cower as the Cybermen stepped through the windows, pushing everyone into the center of the room.

The President's communicator beeped, "Mr. Lumic," the President greeted distastefully.

"Mr. President," Lumic wheezed, "I suppose a remark about crashing the party would be appropriate at this point?" he laughed evilly.

"I forbade this!"

"These are my children, sir. Would you deny my family?"

"What are they?" Rose whispered to the Doctor, "Robots?"

"Worse than that," he replied.

"Who were these people?" the President demanded.

"Doesn't matter," Lumic waved him off.

"They're people?" Rose gasped, horrified.

"They were," the Doctor agreed, "Until they had all their humanity taken away. It's a living brain jammed inside a cybernetic body. With a heart of steel. All emotions removed."

"Why no emotions?"

"...because it hurts."

"I demand to know, Lumic, these people, who were they?" the President demanded, his voice growing louder in anger.

"They were homeless, wretched and useless until I saved them," Lumic chuckled, "And elevated them. And gave them life eternal. And now, I leave you in their capable hands. Goodnight, sir. Goodnight, Mr. President."

As Lumic disconnected one of the Cybermen squared itself before the crowd, "We have been upgraded."

"Into what?" the Doctor called.

"The next level of mankind. We are Human-Point-Two. Every citizen will receive a free upgrade. You will become like us."

"I'm sorry," the President turned and approached the Cyberman, "I'm so sorry for what's been done to you," he turned and walked around, "But listen to me, this experiment ends. Tonight."

"Upgrading is compulsory."

"And if I refuse?"

"Don't," the Doctor warned as Rose glanced at him.

"What if I refuse?"

"I'm telling you, don't," the Doctor stepped forward.

The President just ignored him, "What happens if I refuse?"

"Then you are not compatible," the Cyberman said.

"What happens then?"

"You will be deleted," the Cyberman reached out and grasped the President, whose eyes widened in shock, by the neck. A moment later the crowd screamed as the President was electrocuted before them.

The crowd scattered, running, trying to get away. Some were lucky, others found themselves electrocuted as well. The room exploded in chaos as the Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her outside through one of the broken windows.

"There's nothing we can do!" the Doctor shouted, pulling Rose along.

She broke out of his grasp, trying to get back inside, "My mum's in there!"

The Doctor just pulled her back, "She's not your mother! Come on!"

They ran up a slope only to see a row of Cybermen approaching. They quickly spun and ran around the side of the house just as Pete leapt out the window.

"Quick!" Rose shouted, spotting him, "Quick!"

Pete ran after them, following them around to the front of the house, "Pete, is there no way out?" the Doctor called, looking around.

"The side gates!" Pete led them in that direction, "Who are you? How do you know so much?"

"You wouldn't believe it in a million years…" he began only to skid to a halt when another row of Cybermen approached. They twisted and ran towards the back of the house, seeing two figures running towards them against bright lights, holding guns.

"Who's that?" Rose shouted.

"Get behind me!" Ricky shouted as he and Jake fell to a kneel. The Doctor, Rose, and Pete ran behind them as they fired at the Cybermen who stopped marching. Rose quickly ran to Ricky, fussing with his coat.

"Oh my God," she breathed, relieved, "Look at you..." she pulled him into a tight hug, much to his bewilderment, "I thought I'd never see you again!"

Ricky pulled away, staring at her oddly, "Yeah, no offence, sweetheart, but who the hell are you?"

Just then Mickey sprinted down the lawn towards them, "Rose! Doctor!" he stopped when he reached them, "That's not me. That's like...the other one."

Rose looked between the two of them in shock.

"Oh, as if things weren't bad enough, there's two Mickeys!" the Doctor grumbled.

"Oh don't say that Doc, things might get better" the Wizard said as he approached.

"Wizard" the Doctor looked at him "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Who the hell are you, what kind of name is the Wizard" Rose glared.

"What kinda is Doctor" the Wizard shrugged turning briefly to her before looking at the Doctor.

"But there's more of them..." Mickey cut in, nodding at the Cybers.

They looked around in fear as the Cybermen surrounded them.

"We're surrounded..." Rose breathed.

Ricky raised his gun when the Doctor turned on him, "Put the guns down. Bullets won't stop them…" Jake, though, ignored him, firing rapidly. The Doctor pushed the gun aside angrily.

"Wiz you got anything that can help"

"Yeah he's got special playing cards apparently" Mickey said

"Trust me Doc" looking the Doctor in the eyes.

"Yeah go on"

The Wizard they took the cards and threw individual cards at each of the Cybermen. As they landed the Cybermen seemed to short circuit. The Wizard did a small fist pump, "Told you they'd work. Each card carries a small electromagnetic current which should short circuit them temporarily."

The Doctor grabbed him into a quick hug "Ha brilliant as always" he stepped back "got anymore."

"No sorry only a limited supply."

Unfortunately, more Cybers were approaching and now had them completely surrounded. The Doctor just turned to the Cybers, "We surrender! Hands up..." he told them, raising his hands, getting them to do the same, "...there's no need to damage us, we're good stock. We volunteer for the upgrade program. Take us to be processed."

"You are rogue elements," a Cyberman replied.

"But we surrender."

"You are incompatible."

"But this is a surrender!"

"You will be deleted."

"But we're surrendering! Listen to me, we surrender!"

"You are inferior. Man will be reborn as Cybermen but you will perish under maximum deletion."

The Cyberman raised its arm, reaching out towards the Doctor as did the others, all chanting, "Delete! Delete! Delete!"

To be continued ...


	2. The Age of Steel

The Age of Steel

As the Cybermen were approaching the group chanting "Delete" the Doctor went into his pocket grabbed the power cell and pointed it at them. A golden light bounced off of all them and they all disintegrated. The Wizard turned to the Doctor "Power cell from your TARDIS I'm guessing, nice!"

"What the hell was that?" Rickey shouted.

"I could have sworn I just said, see what I've been dealing with Doc." the Wizard sighed.

"How about instead we RUN!" the Doctor shouted

With that the group took off. As they did so Mrs Moore drove by in the van sounding the horn at them.

"Everybody in!"

While everybody was getting in the van Pete tried to get back to the house. Noticing this both the Wizard and the Doctor grab him to stop him. "I've gotta go back, my wife's in there." He struggled in both their grips.

"Anyone in that house is dead" the Doctor said "Cybermen won't leave anyone alive, when they can convert them"

"Don't let her die for nothing, come with us and help" the Wizard added.

Pete nodded and hurried back to the van. Mrs Moore called "Come on, get a move on!"

The two Time Lords noticed Rose looking at the house and went over. "She's not your mother" the Doctor said trying to urge her to the van.

"I know"

"Come on" as he pushed her on the van

Mrs Moore muttered as they closed the doors "Finished chatting? Never seen a slower getaway in my life"

"If you'd like I could go back out and take longer" the Wizard grinned and winked at her.

She just sighed and drove off. As a line of Cybermen marched on.

"What was that thing?" Rickey said looking at the power cell in the Doctor's hand.

"Little piece of technology from my home" the Doctor mumbled.

"Excuse me, our home Doc, I'm guessing that's a power cell from your TARDIS"

"Yeah, it's on a revitalising loop that's why it's stopped glowing, It'll be charged up in about 4 hours."

The Wizard snatched the cell from the Doctor and Rose screeched "Oi, give it back, it's from the Doctor's ship, it's not like you can do anything with it"

He ignored her cupped the cell in his hands and blew on it, expelling golden light onto the cell which started to shine. He then passed it back to the Doctor who nodded and smiled at him. "Actually love, I've just fully charged the thing, for you so be a bit more grateful."

She glared at him "How did you do that?"

Mickey interrupted "He's a Time Lord?"

"What, you can't be the Doctor's the last one left"

The Wizard frowned "I don't have to prove anything to you but seeing as the Doctor knows me, I've just managed to recharge a TARDIS power cell you might want to keep quiet and think before you speak." Looking at Rickey he now he said "The cell will only work to power the Doctor's ship it won't work against the Cybermen like that again"

"Right," Ricky grimaced, "So, we don't have a weapon anymore."

"Yeah, we've got weapons," Jake cut in, "Might not be one of those metal things, but they're good enough for men like him," he nodded at Pete.

"Leave him alone!" Rose said shrilly, "What's he done wrong?"

"Oh, you know, just laid a trap that's wiped out the Government. And left Lumic in charge."

"If I was part of all that, do you think I'd leave my wife inside?" Pete countered.

"Maybe your plan went wrong," Ricky shrugged, "Still gives us the right to execute you, though."

"Talk about executions, you'll make ME your enemy," the Doctor leaned forward, "And take some really good advice, you don't wanna do that."

"Come on guys you know me" the Wizard pointed out, looking back at Ricky and Jake "Do you really think I'd let you execute him."

"Wiz you know we have evidence that says Pete Tyler's been working for Lumic since 20.5." Rickey pointed out.

Rose turned to Pete, taken aback, "Is that true?"

Pete just looked uncomfortable.

"Tell 'em, Mrs. M,"

"We've got a government mole who feeds us information," she called back to them, "Lumic's private files, his South American operations...the lot. Secret broadcasts twice a week."

"Broadcast from Gemini?" Pete asked.

"And how do you know that?" Ricky turned to Pete.

"Because that's him." The Wizard pointed at Pete

"Yeah, well he would say that…"

"Encrypted wavelength six-five-seven using binary nine," Pete remarked as Ricky and Jake glanced at each other, that was right, "That's the only reason I was working for Lumic. To get information. I thought I was broadcasting to the Security Services, and what do I get? Scooby Doo, his gang and a Wizard. They've even got the van!"

"That's the Wizard!"

"No, no, no!" Mickey cut in, confused, "But the Preachers know what they're doing. Ricky said he's London's Most Wanted!"

"Yeah, that's not exactly..." Ricky trailed.

"Not exactly what?" Mickey looked over at him.

"He's London's Most Wanted for...parking tickets," the Wizard laughed. The Doctor smiled at that while Rose just raised her eyebrows.

"Great," Pete scoffed.

"They were deliberate! I was fighting the system! Park anywhere, that's me."

"Seriously Doc, why'd you think I got involved with them."

"I'm the Doctor, by the way," the Doctor introduced.

"And I'm Rose," Rose added, just a bit put off that the Doctor didn't introduce her as well but tried to cover it with a cheerful, "Hello!"

"Even better," Pete scoffed again, "That's the name of my dog. Still, at least I've got the catering staff on my side."

As Rose and Pete were talking the Wizard leaned over to the Doctor "I'm guessing she's his daughter in our world." The Doctor nodded. He looked over at his friend. "How long's it been for you, since the war?"

The Wizard closed his eyes and exhaled "200 years, fell through a crack in the universe and been stuck here ever since, no vortex and no TARDIS. It's so good to see you again Doc."

The Doctor inhaled, for normal Time Lord's that long without the vortex would be bad, a constant ache. But the Wizard had always had a strange connection and that long must have been painful almost torture. He put his arm around the other man. "You too Wiz, you'll be OK now." They looked at Rose and Pete

"Cybermen," both the Doctor and Wizard interrupted. Every one looked at them.

"They're called Cybermen," the Wizard repeated.

"And I'd take those ear pods off, if I were you," the Doctor added, nodding at Pete who obliged quickly and handed them over to the Doctor, "You never know...Lumic could be listening," he quickly pulled out his sonic and disabled them, "But he's overreached himself. He's still just a businessman. He's assassinated the President. All we need to do is get to the City and inform the authorities. Because I promise you, this ends tonight."

The Preachers along with the Doctor, the Wizard, Rose, Mickey, and Pete walked along the streets of London, watching in horror as all the people dazedly marched in the same direction.

"What the hell..." Jake breathed.

"What's going on?" Rose asked.

"It's the ear pods," the Doctor remarked, eyeing the people, "Lumic's taking control."

"Can't we just...I dunno, take them off?"

Rose reached up to one man about to take his ear pods out when the Wizard reacted, reaching over and grabbing her arm, "Don't!" Rose turned to glare at the man, snatching her arm away, "It'll cause a brainstorm."

Rose looked at the Doctor for confirmation and he nodded.

"Human race," the Wizard shook his head as he looked around, "For such an intelligent lot, you aren't half susceptible. Give anyone a chance to take control and you submit. Sometimes I think you like it. Easy life."

"Hey!" Jake called. They looked over to see him and Ricky peering around the corner, crouching down, "Come and see."

They quickly went over to the men and looked around the corner, there was a row of Cybermen marching alongside another group of people, even those men and women were headed in the same direction as the rest.

"Where are they all going?" Rose wondered.

"I don't know," the Doctor said quietly, "Lumic must have a base of operation."

"Battersea," Pete spoke suddenly, "That's where he was building his prototypes."

"Why's he doing it?" Rose frowned.

"He's dying. This all started out as a way to live by keeping the brain alive. At any cost."

Rose turned to the Doctor, "The thing is, I've seen Cybermen before, haven't I? That head, those handle shapes in Van Statten's museum."

"A museum?" the Wizard looked at the Doctor amused.

"Ah, yeah, tell you later" he nodded at the Wizard. He turned to Rose, "There are Cybermen in _our_ Universe. They started on an ordinary world just like this, then swarmed across the galaxy. This lot are a parallel version, and they're starting from scratch right here on Earth."

"What the hell are you three on about?" Pete shook his head at them.

"Never mind that," Ricky cut in, "Come on, we need to get out of the City," they looked over to see the Cybermen approaching their location from down the street, "Okay, split up. Mrs. Moore and Wiz, you look after _that_ bloke," he pointed at Pete, "Jake, distract them, go right, I'll go left, we'll meet back at Bridge Street. Move."

He and Jake dashed off when Mickey turned to Rose, "I'm going with him," he kissed her quickly, before he ran after Ricky.

"Come on, let's go!" Mrs. Moore called, leading them off as they ran, Cybermen marching towards them.

The Doctor reached out and grabbed the Wizard's hand, grinning to have his old friend back again.

"There!" Mrs. Moore pointed and they ran down a side alley, the Cybermen in pursuit. They quickly crouched down behind a pile of rubbish and dustbins as the Cybermen marched down the street towards them. Rose clutched Pete's hand as the Cybermen came to a stop just before the bins.

The group looked over as the Wizard and Doctor moved, the Wizard taking his wand and the Doctor his screwdriver. They both switched them on, the Doctor's screwdriver making a small beep and the Wizard's wand having a slight blue glow. The Cybermen quickly turned and continued marching. Rose stood enough and peered over the top of the bins, watching them go before standing fully, letting go of Pete's hand. He glanced at her, a bit bewildered as to why she was behaving in such a way towards him, but shook it off as they all stood and looked warily in the direction the Cybermen were marching.

"Go," the Wizard whispered, leading them out from around the dustbins and back down the alleyway towards Bridge Street as Ricky had instructed. They'd only just gotten there when Jake ran over to them.

"I ran past the river," he called, "You should've seen it, the whole City's on the watch. Hundreds of Cybermen all down the Thames…" he trailed off, looking down the street where Mickey had suddenly appeared, running for them. He grinned, thinking it was Ricky, "Here he is!" Mickey didn't reply as he came to a stop before them, Jake's brow furrowed, "Which one are you?"

"I'm sorry," he breathed, "The Cybermen. He couldn't…"

"Are you Ricky? ARE YOU RICKY?"

He didn't say.

"Mickey, that's you, isn't it?" Rose asked.

Mickey swallowed hard, "Yeah," Rose ran to him and threw her arms around him, hugging him as Jake remained silent, "He tried," Mickey turned to Jake, "He was running…" Jake turned away but Mickey stepped after him, "There was too many of them."

"Shut it," Jake managed to get out through the grief of losing his best friend.

"There was nothing I could do…"

Jake spun around, "I said just SHUT IT _._ Don't even TALK about him. You're NOTHING _,_ you are…" Mickey stepped back, his eyes shining with tears, "Nothing."

"We can mourn him when London is safe," the Doctor said calmly, he turned to the Wizard, "I'm going to need your help," he grinned, "Whatever you need". He nodded in return and looked at the group, "Now, we move on."

The group nodded miserably before heading off.

They walked up a slope overlooking the Thames to see Battersea on the opposite bank.

"The whole of London's been sealed off," the Doctor stated, "And the entire population's been taken inside that place. To be 'converted.'"

"We've gotta get in there and shut it down," Rose replied.

"How do we do that?" Mickey asked.

"Oh, I'll think of something," the Doctor said.

"You're just making this up as you go along!"

"Oh yeah that's not changed then," the Wizard smiled.

"We don't all have a bag of tricks like you" he countered.

He smirked, "That's cause I'm magical"

He shook his head at her before sobering at the glare Rose was giving them. He cleared his throat, "Right…" he turned and led them back over to where Mrs. Moore had her laptop out and brought up a 3D model of the factory.

"That's a schematic of the old factory," she replied, "Look, cooling tunnels...underneath the plant...big enough to walk through…"

Everyone crowded around her, except Jake who stood a few feet away, not really listening.

"We go under there and up into the control centre?" the Doctor asked, pointing at a tunnel.

"Hmm," Mrs. Moore nodded.

"There's another way in," Pete said, everyone looked at him, "Through the front door. If they've taken Jackie for upgrading, that's how she'll get in..."

Jake walked over to them, "We can't just go strolling up."

"Or, we could..." Mrs. Moore said, pulling out some ear pods from her bag, "With these..." the Doctor took one, "Me and Wiz knocked them up. Fake ear pods. Dead. No signal. But put them on, the Cybermen would mistake you for one of the crowd."

The Doctor looked them then nodded, agreeing with the woman, and tossed the pod back at him.

"Then that's my job," Pete nodded.

"You'd have to show NO emotion," the Doctor warned him, "None at all. ANY sign of emotion would give you away."

Rose turned to Mrs. Moore, "How many of those have you got?"

"Just two sets," she replied.

"Okay, if that's the best way of finding Jackie...I'm coming with you," she got up and stood next to Pete.

"Why does she matter to YOU?" Pete eyed Rose curiously.

"We haven't got time," Rose waved him off before squaring herself as she faced the Doctor, "Doctor, I'm going with him, and that's that."

The Doctor looked at her, "No stopping you is there?"

"Nope."

He nodded and tossed her the ear pods, "Tell you what...we can take the ear pods at the same time. Give people their minds back. So they don't walk into that place like sheep. Jakey-boy?"

The Doctor led Jake further up the hill to get a better look at Battersea while Rose and Pete prepared themselves. The Wizard had his wand out scanning the area

"Lumic's transmitting the control signal," the Doctor explained, "And it must be from over there..." before he could pull out the sonic, he saw the Wizard already doing what he was about too. "Well, having you around saves me time," he remarked, grinning at him. The Wizard turned to Jake, "There it is...on the zeppelin, see? Great big transmitter. Good thing Lumic likes showing off. Reckon you could take it out?"

Jake smiled, pleased, "Consider it done."

The Doctor patted him on the shoulder as they headed back to the others, "Mrs. Moore...would you care to accompany me and the Wizard into the cooling tunnels?"

"How could I refuse an offer of cooling tunnels?" Mrs. Moore laughed.

"We attack on three sides, above, between, below. We get to the control centre we stop the conversion machines."

"What about me?" Mickey asked, standing slightly apart from the group.

The Wizard smirked as the others stared at him as though just recalling he was there. He walked over to him and put an arm around his shoulder, "You're with Jake. He's the only one with no partner."

"No, he isn't," Jake glared at her.

"Yes, he is," the Wizard said.

Mickey nodded, understanding, "Fine by me."

"I don't need you, idiot," Jake rounded on him.

"I'm not an idiot!" Mickey shouted at him, "You got that?"

The Wizard stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly, "I'm sure you're not, you travel with the Doctor. He doesn't travel with idiots. Good luck."

Mickey took a breath, calming, "I'm offering to help."

"Whatever," Jake breathed, stalking off as Mickey followed.

"Mickey?" the Doctor called, as the man turned back to him, "Good luck."

"Yeah," Mickey nodded, "You too. Rose, I'll see you later."

"Yeah, you better," Rose said.

"If we survive this," the Doctor added, "I'll see you back at the TARDIS."

He smiled at Mickey who nodded, "That's a promise."

"Good luck," the Doctor said to Rose. Rose nodded and turned to head off with her father, leaving the Doctor, Wizard, and Mrs. Moore to head to the tunnels.

The Doctor knocked a trapdoor open, looking down into the cooling tunnels. Mrs. Moore slowly descended, followed by the Wizard, and then the Doctor.

"It's freezing here," Mrs. Moore commented.

"Any sign of a light switch?" the Doctor asked, looking around.

Mrs. Moore laughed, "Can't see a thing. But I've got these..." she rummaged through her bag and handed the Doctor a miner's, then pulling one out for herself as well, "A device for every occasion..."

"Ooh!" the Doctor grinned, taking it.

"Put it on."

She went to hand the Wizard one, but he smiled and held up his wand.

"Haven't got a hotdog in there, have you? I'm starving."

"Seriously Doc, a hotdog."

Mrs. Moore looked up and laughed, "Of all the things to wish for! That's mechanically recovered meat!"

"I know. It's the Cyberman of food, but it's tasty."

Mrs. Moore shook her head as she handed them a hand torch, "A proper torch as well."

"Let's see where we are," he grinned. The Wizard lit up the end of the wand and took a few steps forward. The first thing the light fell on was a Cyberman.

They all jumped back, the Wizard right in to the Doctor, who immediately wrapped his arm around him. "They're already converted, just paralyzed," the Doctor said releasing the Wizard who picked up his wand from where he'd dropped it.

He led them down the tunnels, Mrs. Moore following a moment later. The Doctor paused by one and rapped it on the nose but got no response, "Let's go slowly. Keep an eye out for trip systems."

They walked for a few moments in silence, stealthily making their way along the tunnels, their senses on alert when the Doctor began to speak again, "How did you both get into this, then?" he glanced at Mrs. Moore and the Wizard, "Rattling along with the Preachers?"

"My stories not so interesting, been stuck here a while been helping out where I can, noticed the signs of Cybermen and thought I'd try to stop them, so got myself a team together." The Wizard shrugged.

"Oh, I used to be ordinary," Mrs Moore shrugged.

"I worked at Cybus Industries, '95. Till one day, I find something I'm not supposed to. A file on the mainframe. All I did was read it. Then suddenly, I've got men with guns knocking in the middle of the night. Life on the run. Then Wiz here found me with the Preachers. I decided to be a techy, so I...I just sat down and taught myself everything, with some help."

"What about MR. Moore?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, he's not called 'Moore.' I got that from a book, 'Mrs. Moore.' It's safer not to use real names. But he thinks I'm dead. It was the only way to keep him safe. Him and the kids. What about you? Wiz here I know is all alone, got any family, or..."

The Doctor's smile faded at the thought of his friend having been all alone.

The Wizard squeezed his shoulder before answering for him, "Oh, who needs family? We've got each other now. More than enough even without the whole world on our shoulders."

"Go on then," the Doctor added, diverting the subject, "What's your real name?"

"Angela Price," she answered, "Don't tell a soul."

"Not a word," the Doctor promised as the Wizard smiled having already known.

They got a few more feet when Mrs. Moore gasped, "Doctor? Wiz?" she shown her light on one of the Cyberman's hands, "Did that one just move?"

"It's just the torchlight. Keep going, come on."

Suddenly one in front of them moved, definitely turning.

"They're waking up," the Wiz breathed.

"RUN!" the Doctor shouted, grabbing the Wizard's hand pulling him down the corridor as Mrs. Moore ran after them. They ran just barely managing to stay ahead of the awakening Cybermen until they came to a ladder leading into the factory as the Cybermen started to march.

"Get up!" Mrs. Moore shouted as they scrambled up it, "Quick! They're coming!" the Doctor pulled out the sonic, trying desperately to open the top seal, "Open it! Open it!" he finally managed, tossing the door aside as he flew up it, holding his hand down to pull the Wizard up as Mrs. Moore climbed behind him, "Get up!" she reached out a hand as Time Lords pulled her up, "Quick! Quick!"

"Come on!" the Doctor shouted, the Wizard pulling Mrs. Moore away, "Come on!" he flipped the trapdoor shut and resealed it just in time.

"Oh, good team!" he grinned as they all panted from exertion.

The trio walked along a dark metal corridor, carefully trying to find their way when a Cyberman stepped out in front of them, making them jump.

"You are not upgraded," the Cyberman stated.

"Yeah?" Mrs. Moore stepped forward, "Well, upgrade THIS!" she threw a small metal device at the Cyberman, sticking it to its chest. It sparked and suddenly the Cyberman was electrocuted. It shook and jerked violently before slumping to the floor.

The Doctor looked at Mrs. Moore impressed, "What the hell was that thing?"

Mrs. Moore glanced back at them, proud, as they approached the body, "Electromagnetic bomb. Inspired by those playing cards of Wiz's."

"You figured right," the Doctor nodded as they knelt down beside the Cyberman, "Now, let's have a look..." he took out the sonic and leaned over, holding it on the Cybus logo on its chest, "Now...know your enemy...and the logo on the front...Lumic's turned them into a brand…" he popped off the logo so they could see inside the Cyberman's chest, "Heart of steel..." he remarked, holding the plate up for Mrs. Moore to see, "But look..." he put it down and put his fingers inside the Cyberman's chest, pulling out a white sort of webby thing.

"Is that flesh?"

The Wizard stepped forward, "Central nervous system, artificially grown then threaded throughout the suit so it responds like a living thing."

"Well, it IS a living thing," he sighed, "Oh, but look..." he carefully fingered an electronic chip on the side of the Cyber's inner chest cavity, "Emotional inhibitor. Stops them feeling anything."

"But...why?" Mrs. Moore frowned.

"It's still got a human brain...imagine its reaction if it could see itself. Realize itself inside this thing."

"They'd go insane..." the Wizard frowned.

"So they cut out the one thing that makes them human," Mrs. Moore shook her head.

"Because they have to," the Doctor agreed.

"Why am I cold?" the Cyberman suddenly asked.

"Oh, my God," Mrs. Moore breathed, "It's alive. It can FEEL."

The Wizard crouched down, "We broke the inhibitor…"

The Doctor leaned over the Cyberman and touched its head, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Why so cold?" it repeated.

"Can you remember your name?" the Wizard asked quietly touching its shoulder.

"Sally. Sally Phelan."

"You're a woman..." Mrs. Moore said, shocked.

"Where's Gareth?"

"Who's Gareth?"

"He can't see me. It's unlucky the night before."

"You're getting married…"

"I'm cold," it whimpered metallically, "I'm so cold."

"Sorry," the Wizard said, "You sleep now, Sally. Just go to sleep," he pointed his wand just inside the suit, flashing it as the blue light within went out, "Sally Phelan didn't die for nothing," he blinked, something dawning on him, "'Cos that's the key…" he turned to the Wizard, "The emotional inhibitor…if we could find the code behind it…"

"The cancellation code?" he asked.

He nodded, "Then feed it throughout the system into every Cyberman's head..."

"They'd realize what they are..." the Wizard Wizard breathed, thinking of the consequences.

"And what happens then?" Mrs. Moore looked between the two of them.

The Wizard swallowed hard, then took the Wizard's hand, "I think it would kill them," his brow furrowed, "Could we do that?"

"We've got to," Mrs. Moore nodded, "Before they kill everyone else," the Doctor looked reluctant, "There's no choice, Doctor. I'm sorry Wiz. But it's got to be done."

She went to stand up only to have the Wizard pull her down. He stood up and threw the last of the playing cards at it. "Wow that was close." More Cybermen approached the group.

"Sensors detect a binary vascular system," one of the Cybermen stated, turning between the two of them, "You are an unknown upgrade. You will be taken for analysis."

The Doctor looked him as they were led off "Nice to see the precog stuff is still there"

The Wizard blinked "Haven't done that since I got here, no vortex"

"You'll get it back fully soon, maybe having my TARDIS here helped" he smiled.

The Doctor, the Wizard and Mrs Moore were marched into the main control room of Battersea only to see Rose and Pete there as well, standing near the computers.

"Well only half of your companions have been captured Doctor, must be having a good day" the Wizard said sarcastically, "I knew the other one wasn't an idiot, not sure about this one though" smirking when Rose glared at him.

"Knock it off Wiz. But you are right. We've been captured," the Doctor said, "But don't worry, Rose and Pete are still out there, they can rescue us…" he looked over, as though just seeing them, "Oh well, never mind," he sighed as they came to a stop by the computers and looked at Rose, "You okay?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "But they got Jackie."

"We were too late," Pete swallowed, "Lumic killed her."

"Then where is he?" the Wizard interrupted, raising his voice as he looked around, "The famous Mr. Lumic? Don't we get the chance to meet our Lord and Master?"

"He has been upgraded," one of the Cybermen replied.

"So he's just like you?"

"He is superior. The Lumic Unit has been designated Cyber Controller."

They all turned to a set of sliding doors that opened. Mr. Lumic, now a Cyberman, rolled through. He was sitting on an elaborate chair, covered in wires and tubes connecting him to the system. Pete stood in amazement and horror.

"This is the Age of Steel and I am its Creator," Lumic spoke, his voice just a bit more distinct than the other Cybermen.

Before Lumic could continue the sound of screams echoed throughout the room. The Cybermen started to look around while the Doctor and Wizard spun to look at the security cameras of the factory, seeing the people running out, no longer mindless sheep.

"Knew he wasn't an idiot" the Wizard grinned at the Doctor.

"That's our friends at work," the Doctor grinned, "Good boys! Mr. Lumic, I think that's a vote for free will!"

"I have factories waiting on seven continents," Lumic stated, "If the ear pods have failed, then Cybermen will take humanity by force. London has fallen. So shall the world."

Mickey and Jake cheered at their success at freeing the people when Mickey pressed a few more keys in the computer pad on the zeppelin, "Hold on, I've logged on to Cyber Control."

They looked up to see a security camera overlooking the control room where the Doctor, Wizard, Rose, Mrs Moore and Pete were standing.

"They're alive!" Mickey cheered, "The Doctor, Rose and that Wizard guy, there they are!"

"Never mind them, what the hell is THAT thing?" Jake pointed at the seated Cyberman.

"Shh," Mickey tapped the keyboard again, "Has this thing got sound?"

"I will bring peace to the world," Lumic continued, "Everlasting peace, and unity, and uniformity."

"And imagination?" the Wizard countered, "What about that? The one thing that lead you here. Imagination, you're killing it, dead!"

"What is your name?"

"I'm the Wizard, my title is steeped in imagination"

"A redundant title. Wizards need not exist for Cybermen need no entertainment."

"What about him?" the Wizard nodded back at the Doctor, "The Doctor?"

"Another redundant title. Doctors need not exist. Cybermen never sicken"

"Yeah, but that's it!" the Doctor stepped forward, "That's exactly the point!" he shook his head at Lumic despairingly, "Oh, Lumic, you're a clever man...I'd call you a genius, except We're in the room" pointing at himself and the Wizard, "But everything you've invented, you did to fight your sickness. And that's brilliant. That is SO human. But once you get rid of sickness and mortality, then what's there to strive for? Eh? The Cybermen won't advance. You'll just stop! You'll stay like this forever. A metal Earth with metal men and metal thoughts. Lacking the one thing that makes this planet so ALIVE _._ PEOPLE _._ Ordinary, stupid, brilliant people."

"You are proud of your emotions?" Lumic asked.

"Oh, yes."

"Then tell me, Doctor, have you known grief, and rage, and pain?"

The Doctor looked over at the Wizard before nodding at Lumic, "Yes. Yes, I have."

They both had.

Lumic turned to the Wizard, "And have you known depression? Loss?"

The Wizard sighed hard, "Yes."

"And they hurt?"

"Oh yes," the Doctor repeated as the Wizard nodded.

"I could set you free. A life without depression?" he looked at the Wizard, "A life without loss?"

He shook his head and looked at the Doctor, "Not a chance. I've sad for so long now and thought I was so alone. But I'm not anymore and I will never give up what I'm feeling now."

"And what is that?"

"Hope"

Lumic turned to the Doctor, "And you? A life without pain?"

"You might as well kill me," he replied.

"Then I take that option."

"It's not yours to take! You're a CYBER controller. You don't control me or the Wizard or anything with blood in its heart."

"You have no means of stopping me. I have an army. A species of my own."

The Doctor put his face in his palm exasperated, "You just don't get it, do you? An army's NOTHING. 'Cos those ordinary people, they're the key."

"The most ordinary person could change the world," the Wizard added. The Doctor glanced back at him to see him shake his head subtly to the security camera.

Mickey was nodding along with the Wizard's words when the Doctor spoke again, "Some ordinary man or woman..." he agreed, "Some idiot..."

Mickey's head jerked up as he stared.

"All it takes is for him to find," the Doctor shrugged, "Say, the right numbers...say, the right codes...say, for example, the code behind the emotional inhibitor. The code right in front of him. 'Cos even an idiot knows how to use computers these days."

Mickey's mouth dropped open, catching onto what the Doctor was saying.

"Knows how to get past firewalls and passwords...knows how to find something encrypted in the Lumic Family Database, under...what was it, Pete? Binary what?"

"Binary 9," Pete stated loudly.

"Binary 9," Mickey breathed, beginning to type quickly, the code appearing on the screen.

"An IDIOT could find that code," the Doctor repeated, "The cancellation code. And he'd keep on typing. Keep on fighting," he turned and looked up meaningfully at the camera, "Anything to save his friends..."

"Someone who is definitely not an idiot," the Wizard added, "Despite what others may think" looking at the Doctor and Rose.

The Doctor smiled at his words.

"Your words are irrelevant," Lumic stated.

The Doctor grinned, "Talk too much, that's my problem. Lucky I got you that cheap tariff, Rose. For all our long chats. On your PHONE," he glanced at the camera once more, making a phone sign.

The Wizard smiled, hoping that Mickey was, at that very moment, typing the code away on his phone.

"You will be deleted," Lumic stated.

"Yes, delete, control, hash, all those lovely buttons. Then of course, my particular favorite, SEND," he pushed a fake button in the air, "And let's not forget how you seduced all those ordinary people in the first place…"

Rose's phone beeped as she received a message.

"By making every bit of technology compatible with everything else..." the Doctor finished, pausing by one particular computer.

"It's for you," Rose called, tossing the phone to him.

He caught it, "Like this!" and shoved it into a port, fitting it perfectly.

And all hell broke loose.

The Cybermen all began to clutch their heads, moaning, the cancellation code flashing on every single screen. The security videos showed it happening all over the factory, Cybermen falling down, twitching, some crying out in pain.

The Doctor looked over, grinning, till he saw the Wizard watching a Cyberman sadly. He looked over to see it had caught sight of its reflection in a piece of metal. It whimpered and touched its face, fingering the reflection, devastated.

"I'm sorry," he breathed to the metal man or woman. Suddenly he felt someone take his hand and looked beside him to see the Wizard standing there.

They looked around to see the Cybermen falling to their knees as their heads exploded.

"What have you done?" Lumic shouted, furious.

"We gave them back their souls," the Doctor turned to him, now angry, "They can see what you've done, Lumic! And it's killing them!" he turned and pulled the Wizard out of the room, leading Rose, Pete and Mrs Moore after him.

"Delete!" Lumic shouted, "Delete! Delete!"

They ignored him as they ran through the halls. The Doctor kept a hold on the Wizard's hand. They ran to a door and opened it only to see wailing Cybermen inside. The Doctor slammed the door shut and looked around, "There's no way out!"

Rose's phone went off again and she whipped it out, listening to a brief message from Mickey before calling out, "It's Mickey. He says 'head for the roof.'"

They turned and ran up a flight of stairs, trying to avoid the explosions and flames. They finally made it to the roof, the group jumped down from a ladder. They paused, looking up when they saw the zeppelin floating there.

"Mickey," Rose breathed into the phone, "Where'd you learn to fly that thing?" a moment later she flipped her phone closed and they made a break across the building. They flinched back as a small patch of the roof exploded before them.

Rose started to climb followed by the Doctor, then the Wizard, Mr Moore and Pete last.

"Welcome to Mickey's Airlines," Mickey's voice came over the loudspeaker as the craft started to rise, "Please enjoy your flight. Woo!"

They all climbed frantically, clinging to the rope ladder as they flew off.

"We did it!" Rose shouted, "We did it!"

Pete struggled up the ladder when it suddenly jerked downwards. Rose screamed and nearly fell off. All of them looked down to see Lumic hanging onto the bottom rung, climbing up after them.

The Wizard looked up to see the Doctor moving to pull out the sonic instead he took out the wand and waved it at Lumic. A glow shot from the wand and hit him in the chest. He then fell from the ladder into the explosion below screeching the whole time.

"Excellent aim!" the Doctor grinned, making an 'ok' symbol.

"Just magical," he looked up at him.

Pete just laughed in relief, Rose joining in moments later.

"Come on!" the Doctor called as he started climbing again, leading them all up and into the zeppelin.

"Guys!" Mickey shouted, handing the wheel over to Jake for a moment to come and greet them, hugging Rose and then the Doctor. The Wizard grinned walked over and put his hand on Mickey's shoulder.

"I can definitely see why he keeps you around."

The Doctor looked as the Wizard and Mickey proceeded to chat to each other. He looked over to see Rose glaring at the Wizard, obviously she didn't like the Time Lord. He'd have to keep an eye on that.

In the TARDIS that night, the Doctor walked over to the console, looking over at the Wizard who was sat in the chairs with his eyes closed just seeming to enjoy being in a TARDIS again. He took the power cell and put it into a slot on the console, the TARDIS springing to life, the lights coming back on, humming. A huge grin spread across his face at that, mirrored on the Wizard's. He stood up and went to the console.

"Oh how I missed that noise," he said, tears in his eyes "200 years is such a long time" his hand gently stroking the TARDIS, "We've got, at most, five minutes of power, we should get the others."

They walked over to the doors, the Doctor peeking out of them, "Rose?" he called, getting her attention, and Pete's as well.

They stepped out of the TARDIS and walked over to them. "We've only got five minutes of power..." he told the blond girl, "We've gotta go."

Rose turned to Pete, "The Doctor could show ya..."

"Thank you," Pete cut in, "For everything."

The Doctor and Wizard exchanged a glance, noticing the tension between the two Tylers, clearly something had happened while they were in the TARDIS.

Rose looked at her father, tears in her eyes, "Dad."

"Don't," Pete said sharply, "Just…just don't…" he turned and walked off, Rose watching him go. The Doctor scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably as he glanced at Rose. Before either he could say anything Mickey, Jake and Mr Moore approached, Mickey holding the Doctor's suit in his hand.

"Here it is!" Mickey laughed, handing it over, "I found it. Not a crease."

The Doctor took it, overjoyed to have his suit back, "My suit! Good man! Now then, Jake, we've gotta run."

"But one more thing," the Wizard cut in, "Mrs. Moore, or should I say Mrs Price, go be with your family it's safe now and you are missed."

"How'd you know?"

"Do you really think I would ask you to join my group without making sure your family was safe" He went in his pockets and handed a piece of paper. "This is their current location."

She reached over and hugged the man who looked a bit startled "Thank you so much Wiz".

"Off we go, then!" the Doctor said.

"Uh...thing is," Mickey cut in, "I'm staying."

The Doctor stared at him in shock while the Wizard just kept smiling, "You're doing what?" the Doctor asked.

"You can't," Rose said, upset.

"It sort of balances out," Mickey replied, his voice breaking, "'Cos this world lost its Ricky. But there's me. And there's work to be done with all those Cybermen still out there."

"But you can't stay."

"Rose, my Gran's here. She's still alive. My old Gran, remember her?"

Rose nodded, trying to hold back her tears, "Yeah."

"She NEEDS me."

"What about me? What if _I_ need you?"

"Yeah, but Rose...you don't. It's just you and him, isn't it?" he glanced at the Doctor and back to her, "We had something a long time ago, but...not anymore."

"Well…we'll come back. We can travel anywhere, come and see you, yeah?"

"We can't," the Wizard said.

"I told you," the Doctor added, "Travel between parallel worlds is impossible. We only got here by accident. We...we fell through a crack in time. When we leave...I've got to close it. We can't ever return," he looked over at Mickey, eyeing him, trying to see if this was what he really wanted.

Rose was devastated.

Mickey glanced at her and then turned to the Doctor holding out his hand, "Doctor."

The Doctor shook his head, "Take Rose's phone. It's got the code. Get it out there. Stop those factories," Mickey nodded, "And good luck. Mickey the Idiot."

He slapped Mickey's cheek with a twinkle in his eyes, "Watch it!" Mickey warned.

The Wizard smiled and stepped forward, "Take this too," he handed over the book that he had produced from his pockets, "Blueprints for my electromagnetic cards. Also details of my houses and bank accounts here. Been her 200 years, quite a lot of money in them. The Least I can do for one of the Doctor's companions" he smiled at him. He nodded and he shook his hand, "I'll swap you, you look after this world, I'll look after ours".

"Fair deal, try and keep these two out of trouble"

"Been trying that for almost 1000 years never succeeded at keeping him out of trouble but I'll try."

Mickey smiled "Cheers"

He nodded and turned and walked back to the TARDIS, Rose glaring at him while he did. A moment later, the Doctor shook his head and turned as well, giving Rose and Mickey time alone. Rose handed Mickey her phone which he put in his pocket.

"Just tell me," Rose swallowed, "Did he convince you to stay here instead of him?"

Mickey shook his head, "No," Rose nodded as he smiled, trying to lighten the mood, "We've had a laugh though, haven't we?" Rose nodded tearfully, "Seen it all, been there and back...who would have thought, me and you off the old estate, flying through the stars?"

"All those years just sitting there..." she said, her voice breaking, "Imagining what we'd do one day...we never saw this, did we?"

Mickey pulled her into one final hug, "Go on, you'll miss your flight."

Rose just hugged him tighter, burying her head in his shoulder. When she pulled away moments later, she couldn't look at him, walking back to the TARDIS, sobbing. When she reached the threshold she looked back at him one last time and headed in, closing the door behind her.

"Jake, you wanna watch this," Mickey said to Jake.

Jake stood next to him, watching as the TARDIS dematerialized, "What...the hell?"

"That's the Doctor and Rose Tyler..." Mickey smiled, "In the TARDIS...with the Wizard."

The Wizard was waiting in the console room while the Doctor piloted the TARDIS for Rose to see her mother. Rose hadn't actually spoken a word to him, just kept glaring at him while the Doctor wasn't looking.

"Loving the outfit Wizard"

The Wizard was now wearing a long red sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows with a black waistcoat over the top. Black cargo pants with what looked like motorcycle boots that went halfway up his leg. On top of that was a black cape with a hood which was red on the inside.

"Thanks, not sure about the cape but I'll try it for now" he turned and reached and hugged the Doctor. Then pulled back too look at him, "So this is your 11th, missed your last one but loving the hair, seriously must be best hair you've had yet."

"No 10th not 11th "

"Fair enough, then I'm on my 6th, we've both missed each other's first after the war"

The Doctor looked at him "OK, I am liking this one, so strong and you've still got the same eyes. How do you get blue eyes in almost every single body?"

The Wizard frowned and muttered "Didn't in my last body"

The way he had said that made the Doctor suspicious, he and the Wizard had always made a game of comparing bodies. If he didn't want to talk about his previous self, something bad must have happened.

"Wiz, what's the matter?"

"Leave it Theta!" the Wizard snapped. "Sorry, sorry bad manners. Been by myself for a while need to get out of that."

The Doctor's eyes widened. While he and the Wizard knew each other's names there was a reason why they didn't use them with each other. They'd moved past it and remained friends they just didn't mention it.

"Ok Felpax" the Wizard winced, "We'll forget about it for now. So what are you going to do now?"

"Not sure to be honest, I've got no TARDIS of my own, I guess I could go back to UNIT, do what we did before"

"Or you could come with me?"

"Really, are you sure you want me too?"

"More than anything" he smiled.

"Well then I guess you're stuck with me" the Wizard grinned "This is gonna be so much fun".


End file.
